Translator: CinderTL
"Hmph! What a cunning rat!"
Hearing Jashu's reply, Graham felt a surge of relief rather than frustration.
The spellcaster refused to reveal themselves, relying instead on these tireless metal constructs to besiege them. This meant...
The enemy lacked confidence in defeating Graham and Jashu in a direct confrontation.
This suggested the enemy's strength was far weaker than he had anticipated.
If only they could locate the enemy's hiding place...
With that thought, Graham stomped his feet violently on the ground.
Boom!
A muffled crash echoed as the solid black stone pavement collapsed, leaving a deep crater.
Simultaneously, the massive magitech construct advancing toward them froze mid-stride.
In the next instant, its colossal body shattered into a shower of metallic fragments that scattered across the sky.
"Jashu!"
Graham swung his sword in a backhand arc, instantly clearing away the swarm of smaller constructs lunging at them. His voice rang out coldly.
"No matter how deeply that coward hides..."
The Transcendent Knight's brow furrowed as his sharp gaze pierced into the city's depths.
The exceptionally tall High Tower, wreathed in swirling vortices of violet-black energy.
"That must be the city's core. Destroy it, and these annoying metal clankers should stop."
"You're right, Dean Graham, but..."
Jashu's eyes narrowed slightly as his dagger flashed like lightning, precisely parrying the surrounding attacks while calmly analyzing, "The enemy is a spellcaster. You know how troublesome these transcendent professionals can be. If he's lurking in the shadows..."
The assassin's body swayed, narrowly avoiding a hail of whistling metal shards.
"That spire is likely a trap, surrounded by pitfalls just waiting for you to step into them."
"I understand your concerns, Jashu..."
Graham abruptly thrust his longsword into the black stone slab beneath his feet.
In an instant, a visible pale white aura surged around his massive frame.
Then, the once-smooth pavement suddenly buckled and cracked.
BOOM!
Amidst the deafening roar, the black stone slab shattered like fragile glass, a massive fissure racing forward as if some colossal beast were rampaging beneath the earth.
Magitech constructs, caught off guard, instantly lost their footing and plunged into the bottomless darkness of the chasm.
Having temporarily halted the metal constructs' assault, Graham exhaled a foul breath.
He turned to gaze at the soldiers fighting valiantly behind him, their bodies drenched in blood, and a sharp pang of pain pierced his heart.
When they first arrived at Crushed Stone Canyon, before Demon Capital Gilles had awakened, they had encountered the white-robed disciples of the Church of Truth.
Even after those disciples had been transformed into crystal-encrusted monsters through forbidden experiments, Graham's leadership had driven them into a steady retreat.
The battle had initially seemed overwhelmingly favorable, but...
Against the magitech constructs, the soldiers managed to suppress their fear and fight bravely.
Yet human stamina has its limits. How could they possibly withstand an endless tide of tireless metal?
Graham and Jashu could move freely thanks to their transcendent abilities, but the ordinary soldiers were being relentlessly dragged down by the surging waves of constructs.
Every second of delay could mean another loyal warrior falling, their body turning into a cold, lifeless husk.
Graham could not tolerate this.
"But if we continue to delay, these soldiers will be annihilated."
Jashu's expression remained impassive, his eyes still icy.
As a member of the Shadow Veil Organization, his long career of espionage had long since eroded much of his humanity.
In his view, ordinary soldiers were merely cannon fodder in war, used to wear down the enemy and relieve some pressure on the transcendent professionals.
Now that they had fulfilled their mission, their lives or deaths were irrelevant.
But knowing the Knight Academy Dean's temperament well, he wisely swallowed these words.
After a moment's deliberation, he spoke slowly.
"Dean Graham, I understand your concern, but... please grant me some time to investigate the spellcaster's movements again."
"If I still can't pinpoint his location, I'll join you then. How does that sound?"
Graham frowned deeply but ultimately nodded.
"Alright, Jashu. Hurry back."
Before the words had even left his lips, the assassin's figure blurred and faded like melting wax, vanishing into the shadows of the crumbling ruins in an instant.
Graham took a deep breath and swung his longsword again, hacking at the newly surging magitech constructs.
Yet even with the protection of this transcendent warrior, the soldiers' pained groans rose and fell in waves.
Witnessing this, Graham moved with even greater speed, his sword flashing like lightning.
But even this proved futile.
As a knight renowned for his formidable physical strength, facing these magitech constructs alone—no matter how numerous—would pose no real threat.
Crushing these tireless metal creations would be as simple as crushing an insect.
Even the colossal constructs were no exception.
But protecting the lives of all his soldiers amidst the relentless metallic onslaught was beyond his capabilities.
With the battle lines stretched thin, even his extraordinary speed couldn't cover every vulnerable point.
The grueling tug-of-war between offense and defense continued.
Time passed, yet the number of magitech constructs showed no sign of diminishing, as if they were endless.
Meanwhile, the soldiers' ranks steadily dwindled.
"Damn it!"
Graham cursed as another soldier fell, struck in a vital spot by a metal shard fired from a smaller magitech construct, blood gushing from the wound.
His longsword continued to swing without pause, even as his rage burned.
"Why hasn't Jashu returned yet? Could he have met with some misfortune?"
The thought flashed through Graham's mind, but he felt no blame or resentment toward his comrade.
Glancing around, he saw that Demon Capital Gilles' territory continued to expand.
The murky, purplish-black sludge devoured the earth like a living entity, and grotesque spires and ruins erupted from the swamp, rapidly materializing through the churning mist.
The entire Crushed Stone Canyon, and even the lands beyond, seemed destined to be completely swallowed.
The scale was overwhelming.
Even with Jashu's skills, finding a spellcaster deliberately hiding within this vast, crazily expanding labyrinth of ruins would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Just as Graham was about to lose his composure and recklessly charge toward the towering spire at the heart of the city, his keen hearing caught a faint, unusual sound.
A muffled, chaotic noise, distinct from the clang of metal and the roar of battle.
"What's that...?"
Graham's brow furrowed. He stomped his foot, launching himself upward like a cannonball.
Using the recoil from slaying a massive magitech construct to propel himself higher, his sharp gaze, like that of a hawk, pierced through the mist toward the sound's source.
In the next instant, the corners of his rock-hard face twitched upward in a faint smile.
Through the swirling mist, a line of warriors clad in blue-and-white armor had pierced into the battlefield like a sharp blade.
(End of the Chapter)
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